CHICAGO | Politics and Current Events

[Vlajos]

JB is awful. It's literally all new taxes and not a single reduction in spending.

[k1052]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

JB is awful. It's literally all new taxes and not a single reduction in spending.

Tax rates and fees should be adjusted on a regular basis (preferably automatically) to account for inflation. The gas tax, for example, was last raised to its present fixed level in 1990. Raising taxes and fees to pay for a big capital program which the state really needs is fine with me.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

JB is awful. It's literally all new taxes and not a single reduction in spending.

Agree.

There is nothing particularly "reasonable human being" or "competent" about JB.

Kicking the can down the road and blaming taxpayers for a financial mess that the Government created (underfunding pensions for years) is neither reasonable or competent.

JB just happens to be in power when his Madigan overlord's party has a supermajority so he can quickly get his agenda enacted. There is practically zero reform in his agenda. And you will notice that the Madigan House has blocked Fritz Kaegi's reforms......

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by k1052

Tax rates and fees should be adjusted on a regular basis (preferably automatically) to account for inflation.

^ Fine by me, but the problem is when the Illinois Legislature wants the taxpayers to play by rules that they don't themselves have to follow.

If you're going to inflate my taxes every year, and see an ever rising value of pensions every year, then the State should be REQUIRED to contribute more to these pensions every year as well.

So far there is still nothing out there--no bill, law, anything--to that effect. Our "competent" Governor JB should be pushing for this. Instead, there is nothing shielding Illinois taxpayers who are paying their taxes from this from simply getting worse and worse.....

[k1052]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Fine by me, but the problem is when the Illinois Legislature wants the taxpayers to play by rules that they don't themselves have to follow.

If you're going to inflate my taxes every year, and see an ever rising value of pensions every year, then the State should be REQUIRED to contribute more to these pensions every year as well.

So far there is still nothing out there--no bill, law, anything--to that effect. Our "competent" Governor JB should be pushing for this. Instead, there is nothing shielding Illinois taxpayers who are paying their taxes from this from simply getting worse and worse.....

In the context of the capital bill and how it's being paid for this doesn't make any sense but alright. People have strokes every time we talked about raising the gas tax to compensate for it's continually reduced purchasing power wrt infrastructure. Dramatically increasing it to catch up and letting it float with CPI was something even many Republicans finally had to consent to. Now that it floats the political pain is removed and replaced with sound policy. I would have liked them to do the same with the registration fees also. A weighted VMT charge replacing the fuel tax would really be amazing but everybody would have kittens over that one.

In general I'd like to see more reform. I voted for Kaegi and want to see his reforms succeed. Same with Lightfoot and I'd like change to come to the Cook County board. That doesn't detract, for me, that JB in cooperation with the legislature (and many Rs) accomplished quite a bit. Weed will be legal, we're going to get capital money finally, higher ed and human services are finally seeing reversals in funding, graduated tax is moving ahead, and a bipartisan budget approved. As far as legislative movement I think we're doing better than many of the big blue states this year (see collapses in CA housing bills and the debacle that legalization is in NJ/NY).

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by k1052

In the context of the capital bill and how it's being paid for this doesn't make any sense but alright. People have strokes every time we talked about raising the gas tax to compensate for it's continually reduced purchasing power wrt infrastructure. Dramatically increasing it to catch up and letting it float with CPI was something even many Republicans finally had to consent to. Now that it floats the political pain is removed and replaced with sound policy. I would have liked them to do the same with the registration fees also. A weighted VMT charge replacing the fuel tax would really be amazing but everybody would have kittens over that one.

^ I understand that there are various taxes set aside for different purposes, but it doesn't take away from the reality that adding up a bunch of taxes and fees all at once to the wallet of the taxpayer without addressing the largest issue facing the State (pension hole) is nowhere even close to good policy.

Hell, we've already seen floated around here early data showing that practically none of the "marijuana revenue" will go towards paying down pensions.

In general I'd like to see more reform. I voted for Kaegi and want to see his reforms succeed. Same with Lightfoot and I'd like change to come to the Cook County board. That doesn't detract, for me, that JB in cooperation with the legislature (and many Rs) accomplished quite a bit. Weed will be legal, we're going to get capital money finally, higher ed and human services are finally seeing reversals in funding, graduated tax is moving ahead, and a bipartisan budget approved. As far as legislative movement I think we're doing better than many of the big blue states this year (see collapses in CA housing bills and the debacle that legalization is in NJ/NY).

If you measure success by a Democratic Governor being able to pass a tax & spend budget through a supermajority party legislature (those bills could've been passed without a single Republican vote) without even acknowledging that we're simply digging a deeper and deeper hole for future generations, then I agree. A stunningly successful weekend for Mr. Pritzker!

[k1052]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ I understand that there are various taxes set aside for different purposes, but it doesn't take away from the reality that adding up a bunch of taxes and fees all at once to the wallet of the taxpayer without addressing the largest issue facing the State (pension hole) is nowhere even close to good policy.

Hell, we've already seen floated around here early data showing that practically none of the "marijuana revenue" will go towards paying down pensions.

Some of it is but the projections on mj tax revenue are very low. This, IMO, is a good decision since a number of states majorly overestimated the revenue for a variety of reasons. If there is a mj tax windfall then great since the percentage of revenue that would go to debt is fixed (10%) and the absolute dollar figure would rise. Much of the mj money (35%) goes into the general fund which also has an impact on what the state can put against major liabilities like pensions. Once it matures I think mj tax revenues of 200-300M should be achievable.

If you measure success by a Democratic Governor being able to pass a tax & spend budget through a supermajority party legislature (those bills could've been passed without a single Republican vote) without even acknowledging that we're simply digging a deeper and deeper hole for future generations, then I agree. A stunningly successful weekend for Mr. Pritzker!

Many Republicans supported the bills since the governor was willing to do some horse trading on some business issues plus they want capital project money just as bad as any Democrat does.

[the urban politician]

^ I'm obviously shivering at the thought of our whole stack of cards collapsing on top of us, but for sure I'm thrilled at all of the infrastructure spending--particularly because it's so Chicago-centric.

But it's obvious to me that the "leaders that be" in Illinois don't plan to do anything about the pension problem, and their actual plan is to reach a state of insolvency, perhaps with the hope that somebody will change some kind of law in some kind of way that either allows bankruptcy or allows us to substantially shortchange the pension benificiaries.

[SIGSEGV]

After being unable to find the grad students in my group, I remembered that the grad students at UChicago are striking this week:

https://www.chicagomaroon.com/articl...on-tenth-week/

[Tom In Chicago]

Originally Posted by animositisomina

What are the potential locations for a land-based casino in Chicago?

4,000 gaming positions sounds nice but I wonder how well it will be doing after it's been open for 5 years? The luster of these places wear off pretty quickly.

Thompson Center/State of Illinois building. . . once it's vacated of course

. . .

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by Tom In Chicago

Thompson Center/State of Illinois building. . . once it's vacated of course

. . .

Nah, I think that sounds like our new pensions plan.

[Baronvonellis]

What is the Capital plan to be used for? Any specific projects?

[the urban politician]

Condo building in Logan Square hit by graffiti:

https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2019...tion-graffiti/

Interesting demographic tidbit:

WBEZ radio found that Logan Square’s Latino population fell by more than 20,000 from 2012 to 2017, while the white population surged by 12,000.

[moorhosj]

Originally Posted by Baronvonellis

What is the Capital plan to be used for? Any specific projects?

There is a "horizontal" and a "vertical" plan.

The horizontal plan is the bigger one, paid for by increasing the gas tax and vehicle registration fees. It has a very specific list of project mostly in roads, trains and water.

The vertical plan is funded by the expanded gaming revenues (more casinos, sports betting, more slot machines and a change in the rate those companies pay). The project list is less specific but is mostly for buildings like state universities, government offices, schools, etc.

[the urban politician]

^ Thanks, but combined, those documents are 500 pages long.

Wanna perhaps indicate which pages the "specific projects" are listed on?

[Baronvonellis]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Condo building in Logan Square hit by graffiti:

https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2019...tion-graffiti/

Interesting demographic tidbit:

Shouldn't this be treated as a hate crime?

Logan Square was home of the Chicago Norske Klub (1911 to 1971) a Norwegian club. Technically the Norwegians lived there longer than the Hispanics ever did. But they act like they are the only group that ever lived in the neighborhood. Where's the Giant Norwegian flag in Logan Square?

[the urban politician]

Crains stating that the U of I system is getting $1.9 billion, and $500 MM is going towards the Discovery Partners Institute. Pritzker had a change of heart?

That article also stated that the DPI has raised $400 MM in private money, although no details were given.

This think looks like it might actually happen. Related Cos must be happy

[moorhosj]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Thanks, but combined, those documents are 500 pages long.

Wanna perhaps indicate which pages the "specific projects" are listed on?

With all the action this weekend, I'm not even sure where to find it. I did track down this article from a few weeks ago outlining Pritzker's initial proposal (likely that he got most of what he wanted).

Of the proposed $41.5 billion in spending, $28.6 billion would be devoted to transportation projects, including $23 billion for roads and bridges and $3.4 billion for mass transit. The plan also calls for spending $5.9 billion on repair and building projects at schools, universities and community colleges. Another $4.4 billion would go to state facilities.

The largest share of the program, $17.8 billion, would be funded through state bonds, while more than $7 billion would come from regular revenue. The plan counts on more than $10 billion in federal funding and $6.6 billion from local governments and private sources.

Among the big-ticket items on the list is a $1 billion reconstruction project on Interstate 80 from Ridge Road to Lincoln Highway in Will County, including the replacement of bridges over the Des Plaines River. Highlighting the problems on that stretch of road, two eastbound lanes of I-80 at Illinois 53 were closed for about three hours last Friday due to a hole forming in the bridge deck, snarling traffic.

The Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees the CTA, the Metra commuter rail system and the Pace suburban bus system, would receive nearly $2.9 billion. Another $225 million would be used to help restore passenger train service from Chicago to the Quad Cities.

In Chicago, $350 million would be devoted to the completion of the 75th Street corridor improvement project and adjacent corridors to reduce rail congestion. The plan also calls for building improvements and construction projects at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago State University, Northeastern Illinois University and Governors State University in south suburban University Park.

The draft includes $230 million for reconstruction of the Quincy Veterans Home, where 14 people have died since 2015 in a series of Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Crains stating that the U of I system is getting $1.2 billion, and $500 MM is going towards the Discovery Partners Institute. Pritzker had a change of heart?

That article also stated that the DPI has raised $400 MM in private money, although no details were given.

This think looks like it might actually happen. Related Cos must be happy

Watch JB donate the last $ 100 MM himself...

[the urban politician]

Seriously, this is like an Illinois version of Obama's 2009 Economic Stimulus package.

I mean, there is literally going to be construction everywhere. Watch out for worsening worker shortages (it's already quite bad in the construction industry) and lots of traffic jams!